THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The International Criminal Court on Monday unsealed arrest warrants against four senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of the crime against humanity of gender persecution against women, girls and members of the LGBTQI community in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The existence of the warrants against Akhundzada and Haqqani was revealed last year, but the warrants remained sealed.
The court said in a statement that warrants were issued in July and September last year for the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani. “Afghanistan does not recognize any court under the title of the “International Court,” nor does it attach any significance to its positions,” he said in a written statement. The four suspects are charged with persecution on gender grounds against “girls, women and other persons nonconforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender, gender identity or expression; and on political grounds against persons perceived as ‘allies of girls and women,’” the court said Monday.
Also wanted are Education Minister Habibullah Agha and Minister of Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadim. With the Taliban in control of Afghanistan and the court having no police force to execute warrants, the prospect of any of the suspects being arrested is remote. Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the court’s decision. He added, “we are bound by the rulings of Islamic Sharia and its courts, not by intelligence entities or so-called courts.
The judges said that the Taliban “specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms” including education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion.
Rights groups applauded last year when the court issued sealed warrants for the two senior Taliban leaders.
